Pats beat Warriors in a shootout, tighten race for third place

Sam Steel scored the lone goal of the shootout on Friday night as the Regina Pats skated to a 5-4 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors before a sellout crowd of 6,484 at the Brandt Centre.

Regina outshot the visitors 49-28 but needed a shootout to settle things after Moose Jaw’s Nikita Popugaev forced overtime with 25.6 seconds left in regulation.

When the dust settled following OT and the shootout, Warriors head coach Tim Hunter admitted his team was fortunate to salvage a single point.

“We were lucky to even be close,” he said. “They outplayed us. They outcompeted us right from the start. We weren’t ready to play. That’ll have to change tomorrow night or we’ll get the same result.”

Despite a generally dominant performance, Regina (33-27-3-5) had to settle for gaining just a single point in the battle for third place in the East Division. Moose Jaw (34-25-7-2) has a three-point lead on the Pats with four games left, the next one being a rematch on Saturday night at Mosaic Place.

“We deserved to win the game,” said Pats head coach/GM John Paddock, who was disappointed that his team failed to put it away in regulation. “In some ways it feels like a loss when you outplay them for the most part throughout the game and they get a squeaker that I’m sure (goalie) Jordan (Hollett) would like to have back. It stings for sure but we have a game against them tomorrow that we need to win.”

Sick bay: The Pats began their day on the wrong foot when No. 1 goalie Tyler Brown was scratched for the second straight game with the flu. The issue was compounded when defenceman Sergey Zborovskiy ended up being a last-minute scratch due to injury.

In Brown’s absence, Hollett was pressed into duty for just his second start in the past month. The rookie netminder is expected to get the call again for Saturday’s clash in Moose Jaw.

Recap: Hollett got some support 3:51 into Wednesday’s game when Adam Brooks played give and go with Lane Zablocki to create a 2-on-1. Brooks took the return feed and walked in alone, beating goalie Zach Sawchenko with a forehand deke.

Moose Jaw turned the tables midway through the first period with goals 2:16 apart by Dryden Hunt and Tristin Langan, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead after the first period.

Moose Jaw made it a two-goal game just 1:12 into the second when Tanner Jeannot redirected a point shot off the right post and in.

Rykr Cole got one back 4:07 later, burying a cross-crease feed from Jake Leschyshyn. Cole Sanford followed up with a short-handed tally when he chased down a loose puck at Moose Jaw’s blueline, skated to the left face-off dot and fired a bullet over Sawchenko’s shoulder for his 40th of the season.

The Pats kept coming in the third period and eventually scored the go-ahead goal at 6:44. It came off a great individual effort by Brooks, who fought off a defender as he sliced to the net before slipping a pass in front to Zablocki for a tap-in goal.

That marker stood up until Popugaev forced overtime in the closing seconds of regulation. With his net empty, the Russian rookie grabbed a loose puck off the draw in Regina’s zone and — staring at a clear path to the net — he took a few steps in before sneaking a low wrist shot through Hollett with 25.6 seconds on the clock.

After a brief intermission, three-on-three overtime commenced with end-to-end action for both clubs. The Pats were all over Moose Jaw until Brayden Point weaved his way to the net and made a great move in front, only to be robbed by the outstretched left pad of Hollett.

Regina was penalized on the play but killed off the two-minute disadvantage to force a shootout.

After two failed attempts by the home team, Steel scored in the third round and Hollett added the finishing touch with his third save, turning away Jesse Shynkaruk to secure the win.

“He made some good saves,” said Paddock. “He’s a 16-year-old goalie playing in a really big moment. It bodes well for us and for him down the road.”

Scoring race: With a goal and an assist, Brooks pulled even with Hunt in the race for the WHL scoring title.

Both players have 111 points in 68 games.

Up next: Saturday’s rematch is the final meeting of the regular season between Regina and Moose Jaw. The Pats are back on home ice Wednesday to face the Saskatoon Blades.

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